


Darcy Lewis and the Reject Squad

by My_Dear_Watson



Series: Assistants Assemble [1]
Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-08
Updated: 2014-04-13
Packaged: 2017-12-04 15:46:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/712395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/My_Dear_Watson/pseuds/My_Dear_Watson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clint wants to get to know Darcy a little more than a friend. Too bad that her circle of friends make that easier said than done.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Reject Squad

Clint Barton liked Darcy Lewis. She was smart, sarcastic, and refused to take any shit from anyone, superior or not. He had met her a few times, and each time, he liked her for another reason. Getting snippy with Fury and Stark when they told her to do something that sounded more like an order than a favor being asked of her, then her dancing around Steve when she hit closer to the bullseye on her target in the shooting range, puffing herself up while imitating Thor or speaking with the God- a new day, a new small adventure. One day after the pair of them almost died, he decided he wanted to get to know her more-just as a friend, even if the... interest was there.

However, any plan to do so was thwarted by the friends she had made along the way. She and four others who were the less-qualified, less 'desirable in the field' bunch- and they all knew it, and it was why the circle of friends called themselves the Reject Squad for that reason. They always stuck together to back each other up if come need be. And the four other than Darcy in the group were his biggest problem. 

First, there was Dirk Kruger- tall, dark, handsome... and the grandson of the guy who tried to blow up Steve, Howard Stark, and a bunch of SHIELD agents back in the 1940s before chomping down on a cyanide pill after Steve caught him. At first, SHIELD had completely rejected his attempts at joining, but when Dirk saved Fury's life in a shootout of some underground HYDRA agents, they were more open him. That didn't stop them from being cautious and putting occasional tails on him. Darcy, on the other hand, adored Dirk, and he her. The man was practically her guard dog and big brother all in one. She had him wrapped around her little finger like it was her business. As Darcy's surrogate big brother, he shot down every romantic attempt that Darcy almost got on the job. But so far, that was her only complaint.

Two- Fred Mason, more commonly known to people on the helicarrier as That Guy Playing Galaga Who Stark Caught. From their common love of classic games, sassing people to the point of annoyance, and liking simply taking up space and offering commentary more than working, the pair were fast friends.

Three- Hank Connors, one of the helicarrier's bridge techs. At first, Darcy was just glued to him for the same reasons she liked Dirk- looks. He was blonde, blue-eyed, and hella pleasant to look at. When they started trading banter during her second week on the job and he gave as much as he got, Darcy was half convinced she was in love with him. But as her luck went, liking him almost automatically made him gay in her book. It would be nothing new to her if he was, but when it turned out he wasn't and he had it bad for the fourth member of their team of misfits, she didn't have it in her to mind. 

And then the fourth member, who harbored as much of a crush on Hank that he did on her- Diana Caine. She was pretty much Natasha personality-wise, but Polish,  blonde, less limber, and didn't start as an assassin. She also gave Darcy sass right back when the younger girl traded mock insults with her. Being that Darcy felt she needed some estrogen to balance out all the testosterone in her group of friends, she was in, too. While Diana wasn't as geeky or tech-savvy as the others, she provided the people skills they needed and was usually the one to get them out of trouble. She tried to chase away Dirk any time a boy got moderately close to Darcy, but most of the time, Dirk won whatever argument followed. 

Clint knew that his latest task was going to be easier said than done, already having been chased off by Dirk after attempting to simply deliver a message from Jane to Darcy. He had his work cut out for him, he knew that much. He needed help, and lots of it. He just had to figure out just who could and would help him, rather than poke fun at him at all costs. 

Yeah, he had lots of work coming his way. It was a damn good thing he enjoyed a challenge.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers ahoy for Cap 2 and the latest Agents of SHIELD. My muse has died a horrible death the last four months and since part of the storyline of this was made for those things, well, bam, ideas.
> 
> Edit: Aaaand my muse died like, halfway through writing this. I had so much more planned for this chapter, and then just wasn't feeling it, and I hate that. So the chap is short and sweet and hopefully carries promise for what else is to come.

So Hydra had managed to completely infiltrate SHIELD and almost bring it entirely to the ground. He had heard varying things in the panic that was the two hours it had taken to get from a fallen helicarrier to the base that Darcy and the rest of the Squad were in. He had to fight his way in and got to the mouth of the hallway the Squad had commandeered. To his horror, an entire set of Hydra operatives had stormed the hallway. To his surpise, however, the Rejects had apparently held their own, judging by the pile of Hydra people in the corner and the current fight going on at the end of the hall. Diane and Dirk were taking down opponents in hand to hand comment, and Fred and Hank were shooting at them as Darcy readied another shot for her taser.  He snapped out of it long enough to fire a couple of arrows into the fray. By the time he reached the end of the hallway, all of the apparent Hydra operatives had been taken down. 

He was dimly aware of additional movement that started behind him once he reached the crew until he heard a solid, heavy thump, and then Darcy shrieking in alarm. He turned sharply, seeing two SHIELD men, Barlowe and Hardiman had pinned Dirk to the floor. 

"What? Guys, he just tried to save you! What are you doing, leave him alone!" Darcy demanded. 

Clint went to agree, then stopped short, realizing just why Barlowe and Hardiman had tackled him. Apparently, Dirk himself had realized at the same time, because he suddenly went slack and closed his eyes. 

"GUYS!" Darcy repeated. 

"It's fine, Darce. It's... they're doing their jobs," Dirk replied from his spot on the floor. 

"How?!" Darcy demanded. 

Diana finally caught on as well. "Oh God. Because-" 

"Because I'm the grandkid of the Hydra agent who tried to kill Cap back in the day," Dirk deadpanned, then hissed when he got shoved harder into the floor. "I'm not fighting, take it bloody easy..." 

When Darcy tried to weasel her way between Hank and Fred to get to Dirk, Clint pushed her back gently and turned to the other agents.  "He's protected Fury, he's clear-" 

"Fury's dead now, haven't you heard?" Barlowe demanded. 

Clint froze. "What?" 

"Reports just got in. He's dead," Hardiman confirmed. "Look, they're gonna be storming the castle more soon. We need to get this guy secure." 

 "Clint, do something! He's not one of them!" Darcy insisted. 

"Quiet, Darcy. They'll learn that soon," Dirk replied. He scrambled to get his footing when Barlowe and Hardiman yanked him upright. They started to drag him up, and he reluctantly went with him. He turned back to Clint as he passed him. "Take care of them..." 

"I will..." Clint nodded. He watched them go, then ducked when a siren suddenly blared and a red light started up. He retrieved another arrow and notched it, then looked at the rest of the Squad, who looked half lost, half hurt. "Come on. We gotta go before the rest of their cavalry arrives..." 

"You just let them take him?!" Diana demanded. 

"I didn't have a choice, look, his grandfather helped found the damned organization, that's prime motive. It's... justifiable." 

"... ... D'you think Fury's actually dead?" Hank spoke up after a beat. 

"... I'm not really sure what to think. Point is, we have to go." 

"What if they kill him?" Darcy demanded. "Hydra destroyed us, do you really think Dirk's gonna have... I don't know, a trial? We need to help him!" 

"We can't do much for him now," Clint replied. 

Darcy, in turn, scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh, fantastic. That's a great way of-"

Clint huffed, then without another word, grabbed her arm and yanked her forward. "The rest of you better be following me in the next ten seconds or you're on your own with the rest of Hydra when they get here." 

The others nodded briefly before all filing out of the room behind him. 

* * *

 

They had made it three floors before more Hydra agents surrounded them and they had to fight their way through once again. Within mere minutes of being on the floor, the group was surrounded, and separated on top of that. 

Clint had panicked immediately after he realized that a couple of the agents had purposely separated him and the others. "They're thinning out the herd..." he muttered. "Or taking out the biggest threat..." He launched himself backward when two more agents came at him, and one knocked his bow straight out of his hand. He scrambled to get it back, only to find a knife at his throat. He froze and looked up to meet his attackers eyes- only to see them go dead moments later. He blinked and pulled back, only to see a matching knife sticking out from the goon's neck. The goon collapsed in front of him. Clint looked around again, only to see Dirk come around the corner. His heart sunk upon seeing the man coming at him like a man on a mission, then only relaxed when Dirk reached over and shoved the goon down all the way, then retrieved the knife. Clint gawked at him after a moment. "I- what-" 

"Barlowe and Hardiman were Hydra. Keeping up appearances and all that. Saw me as a threat. You too, apparently. Where are the others?" 

"How'd you know?" Clint asked. 

"Cameras in the room they dragged me to. They're confident Fury's dead. Please tell me you've heard otherwise in the last twenty minutes," Dirk replied. 

"I haven't heard shit. Now come on, they're good, but they don't remotely have our training." 

"Great. What's the plan then?" 

"Shoot and stab first, ask questions later?" Clint suggested. 

"Sounds like my sort of plan."

"Good. Oh, and Kruger?" 

"What?" 

"You might have just saved my life, but if you are screwing with us, if you are playing games, I will kill you." 

"I'd think less of you if you didn't. Now, let's get back to rescuing the others."

* * *

 

And rescue them they did, with a fair bit of difficulty. 

Before they knew it they were outside, all huddled into a wooded area with Darcy all but wrapped around Dirk's arm. The young woman continued to glare down Clint every once in a while, and Clint's only relief was that Dirk kept looking at him apologetically. 

After a few moments of dead silence, Hank was the first to speak again. "Anything from Coulson? Anyone we can trust, Barton? Dirk- look, did you... would you have... any leads on how Hydra went about this?"

"No," the two men countered. After another bout of silence, Clint got up. "We're on our own now, guys. We need to figure things out, but get off the grid first off, so... phones- all of them, out now."

A few moments later, five phones were in a small pile, and after some coaxing from Hank, Darcy added hers to it. 

Clint got a rock big enough to cover all the stones and dropped it on top of them before throwing each over the small cliff-face they were on and into the nearby rapids. 

"And... our first target as far as finding people goes?" Diana asked. 

Clint gave her as much of a fond, 'you're an idiot' look as he could manage. "Coulson, if he's not... ... ... _or_ I may have some contacts that will help, but... ... Coulson first." 


End file.
